‘There should be a rule against women having children in science’

“Following the recent comments made by Tim Hunt, I spent a little time reminiscing about my experiences as a postdoctoral researcher at a London University. I started this position full of enthusiasm but it ended quite swiftly following comments from my principal investigator (PI), such as:

‘There really should be a rule against women having children in science.’

‘I’m not going to teach you how to do it because you’re probably going to leave for marriage and children anyway so why waste my time?’

‘Sorry about all the women in this laboratory, but at least they’re good to look at.’

The trouble with Tim Hunt's 'trouble with girls in science' comment

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“This is on top of being asked in interviews about my relationship status and whether I plan to have children. Apologies Sir Hunt, but as it turns out, young female scientists are most certainly not interested in falling in love with their PIs. Rather than that slightly nauseating theory, we actually just want to be successful in our experiments, discoveries and long-term careers. Unfortunately it doesn’t surprise me that this behaviour still continues because I’ve dealt with it firsthand. However, I’ve now started working for the NHS. They have 100% commitment to equal opportunities and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I hope that is reassuring to other researchers in similar situations. Why are universities incapable of dealing with sexism?” (Trainee clinical scientist for the NHS.)

‘Women are simply worse at science’

“When I was an undergraduate in 2011, a chemistry PhD student told me he thought women were simply worse at science. He went on to say that if he ever suspected that the women in his department were benefiting from positive discrimination, he was planning on deliberately ‘sabotaging’ the careers of women in chemistry to ‘redress the balance’.” (PhD student at Oxford University)

‘I need a younger postdoc than you’

“The professor I worked under in my last postdoctoral job at a Russell Group university took me into his office one day and told me that my supervisor needed a younger postdoc than me (I was 38). He said he ‘bet that I spent my weekends looking after my family’ – implying that I should have been working not being a mother (I had 3 children with a stay at home dad). He also said that ‘you need to be rich to be a scientist’. When I left his office that day he wouldn’t even move his feet away from the door making me step over them. So I left. I am ‘obviously’ a woman who was too old and too poor. At no point was my actual work ever mentioned.” This guy has since lost an employment tribunal raised by colleagues but is still in post . (Academic leader of applied biology at a UK university.)

Women studying science: share your experiences

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‘You probably just won because of your sexy voice’

“Dealing with sexism in science has been a regular thing for me over the past 13 years. Here are just a few experiences I’ve encountered: • I had won a prize after giving a talk at a conference during my PhD. During that week, I had laryngitis, and my voice was still rather husky when I gave the talk. My supervisor’s comment about being awarded a prize was ‘You probably just got it because of your sexy voice’.• A female technician is bent over emptying the biohazard bin. While she is doing this, she is blocking the way of the PI, who has come up behind her. He is looking at her bottom. She turns around and says ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were there, let me get out of your way’. The PI, still staring at her bottom and smiling, replies ‘Don’t worry, I enjoy watching women at work, do continue’.”• A PI rejected a manuscript coming from a female postdoc as ‘unpublishable’ while that same manuscript is judged to be ‘a great piece of work and ready for submission’ when coming from the male co-first author instead.• Male PIs often ask female postdocs to babysit their children that they have brought to work because school was finished early.” (Immunologist who has studied and worked in laboratories in world-leading US and UK universities.)

‘I know what it’s like for women with twins, we’ll never see her again’

“Several years after my return to work after a one-year maternity leave, I was told by my department chair that he had never thought to consider planning for my career advancement because the person who was chair when I went on maternity leave had told his successor: ‘Don’t worry about her, I know what it’s like for women who have twins, we’ll never see her again.” (Associate professor at a Canadian university.)

What hope for the future?

“Tim Hunt’s comments were outrageous, and it sounds as though he knows that. We should be outraged, but we should probably not be too astonished, as he does come from a generation where there were few women persisting in science. Not that this excuses his behaviour. But it’s more important we focus on the progress (or at least efforts) the scientific community are making in achieving equality in the science workplace. This is an exciting time – we are in an age where people feel able to make more personal choices on their work-life decisions and (crucially) that both men and women feel it is acceptable and appropriate to speak up about any inappropriate behaviour or discrimination in the work place. This is not just limited to the science world. And it is not just limited to women.

Tim Hunt comes from a generation where there were few women persisting in science.

Seirian Sumner

“Women are edged out of science because of the way the science career structure works, because of the short-term contracts, because few ever get a permanent position before they take on caring responsibilities (be that kids, or ageing parents). I am deeply concerned about the slow progress we are making in achieving gender parity in science. I have watched my female peers gradually trickle out of the academic/research market, usually after having had a child and being unable to chase short term jobs in that all important postdoc abroad once their life priorities change. These are issues that are the modern day challenges, and in the face of these practical challenges, sexism is one of the easier things to ignore.

“Amused though the media are by the Hunt’s dinner speech, this will pass, we will all laugh about it and roll our eyes and count the days until people like Hunt retire, but the bigger issues will remain.” (Seirian Sumner is a senior lecturer in behavioural biology at the University of Bristol and co-founder of Soapbox Science, which aims to promote the visibility of women in science)